The seventh-year UNC head coach is 7-11 against in-state FBS opponents.

GREENVILLE, N.C. – North Carolina rolled into Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium as double-digit favorites on Saturday. The Tar Heels left Greenville with their season and their head coach’s future in doubt.

This loss – a 41-19 blowout by an East Carolina team that lost its season opener to FCS opponent North Carolina A&T – may prove to be the tipping point of Larry Fedora’s tenure in Chapel Hill. His Tar Heels have lost 14 of their last 16 games against FBS competition, including four losses in which they entered the game as double-digit favorites.

The sharp decline is as stunning as the program’s seemingly meteoric rise in Fedora’s fourth season at the helm. After a losing season in 2014 in which the seams of the locker room were fraying, Fedora addressed the chemistry issues during the offseason and led UNC to its first 8-0 record in ACC play as well as its first ACC Championship Game appearance in 2015.